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An Apple patent application published yesterday reveals an idea for a folding smartphone that would include a “self-healing” screen cover, which would allow the device to repair dents or scratches covering the screen. The application, detected by Patently apple, was originally introduced by Apple in January.
As Apple wrote in the patent application, the proposed concept display would allow the device to be repaired without the user having to manually intervene. In theory, the foldable’s self-healing could turn on automatically, such as when the device is charging or at a predetermined time, and would use heat, light, or electrical current to repair a protective layer on the screen.
The patent application also says that the hypothetical device’s display cover may include a layer of elastomer that can lose and regain its shape to keep the sensitive inner workings of a device protected. In theory, the material for this concept would make the folding’s overall screen cover more durable.
Several tech companies, including Samsung and Motorola, are already making different styles of folding phones, but Apple’s proposed self-healing feature would add a unique twist to these devices. Samsung’s first version of this type of foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, suffered from issues with screen durability. The phone was delayed after several review units failed in quick succession, something my colleague Dieter Bohn found in his review unit.
Basic self-healing tech has already been seen in at least one smartphone, the LG G Flex from 2013. It had a self-healing back cover that was supposed to repair minor scrapes, like a knife scratch. It wasn’t that effective though – he couldn’t recover from a key scratch during our tests, and our reviewer compared him to Wolverine if he could only heal from “paper cuts and nothing else.”
There is no indication that Apple will release a foldable phone with self-healing material anytime soon, if at all. But folding phones are something Apple seems to have been toying with for years, with other patent applications showing mockups of what a folding iPhone would look like if it ever came to fruition.
